1st-3rd century AD. A rectangular mosaic floor panel depicting a naiad nymph, minor goddess of watery elements, depicted as a beautiful young woman dressed in a garment draped around her slender waist, secured by a golden sash, holding a reed at the crook of her right elbow and bringing a golden hydria to her lips; mounted in a modern matrix and frame. See Neal, D.S. and Cosh, R.C., Roman Mosaics of Britain. Volume III. South-East Britain. Part 1, London, 2009, p.278, fig.255(c), for a standing naiad; see also Gaziantep Museum of Archaeology, for a similar depiction of reclining Naiad nymph of the River Euphrates. 47.5 kg, 112 x 80cm including frame (44 x 30 1/2"). Property of an English gentleman; formerly the property of a Munich collector; previously acquired in the 1980s. Naiades were the nymphs of streams, fountains, lakes, rivers, marshes and springs, and in conjunction with Artemis, they were protectors of girls and nurses of the young. They were minor goddesses who attended the assemblies on Mount Olympus and often gave their names to water supplies, towns and islands.